The Captives of Zacatecas and the War Behind the Uniforms

The men are on their knees, surrounded by armed sicarios, answering questions they know could decide whether they live or die. One says he works for the Mayiza. Another says he once belonged to the Zacatecas Immediate Response Force, known as FRIZ. Another names commanders, police units, camps, prisons, and towns where the war has spread.

The interrogation, filmed in Zacatecas, is more than another cartel video. It is a message aimed at the Mayos, the Cabrera network from Durango, and the authorities accused of protecting them.

Warning: The following video contains cartel interrogation footage and disturbing content. Viewer discretion is advised.

The captives describe a criminal network operating through Fresnillo, Calera, Valparaíso, Villanueva, Guadalupe, and Cieneguillas. They claim Mayo-aligned gunmen work with the Cabrera mob from Durango, using police protection, safe houses, rural camps, and prison control to hold ground in Zacatecas.

The most serious accusation centers on FRIZ.

One captive claims he was part of the force before becoming a hitman. He says FRIZ elements, Metropolitan Police, municipal officers, state police, and officials tied to the prosecutor’s side worked with Mayo-aligned groups. According to him, their role was not only to look away. They allegedly picked people up, handed enemies over, protected drug points, and helped enforce extortion.

If true, that would mean parts of the state were not just corrupted by the war. They were participating in it.

The Cabrera name runs through the video. The captives refer to “La Mancha,” which they describe as a code for the Durango or Cabrera side. Saying you belonged to La Mancha allegedly allowed gunmen to pass checkpoints without problems. That detail matters because it shows how the Cabreras are being portrayed by their enemies: not as outsiders, but as a protected regional force with reach inside Zacatecas.

The video also points to the prison system. One captive claims the Mayos control Cieneguillas through monthly payments, access to phones, drugs, alcohol, and extortion calls. He says inmate transfers are influenced so allies stay protected while rivals are moved out.

As always, cartel interrogation videos must be treated carefully. Captives speak under threat. Names can be forced into a script. Rivals use these videos to damage enemies and shape public opinion.

But even propaganda tells a story.

This one tells a story of Zacatecas as a battlefield where the lines between cartel gunmen, police units, prisons, and political protection are being accused of disappearing. The captors want the public to believe the Mayiza and Cabrera network survive through uniforms, payoffs, extortion, and fear.

The final message is simple: the Cabreras, Flechas, and Parientes are being told to leave Zacatecas.

That is not just a warning. It is psychological warfare.

And behind the forced confessions is the reality civilians already know too well: in Zacatecas, the war is not only fought by men with rifles. It is fought through police stations, prison corridors, rural camps, and the businesses forced to pay for survival.

Full English Translation Transcript by Sol Prindido.

Sicario: Who do you work for?

Captive #1: The Mayiza mob.

Sicario: Where are you from?

Captive #1: I’m from Durango and I work for the Cabrera mob.

Sicario:What’s your name?

Captive #2: Juan Jose Hernandez.

Sicario: Where are you from?

Captive #2: Puebla.

Sicario: Who do you work for?

Captive #2: For the Mayos.

Sicario: What was your role?

Captive #2: I was a hitman.

Sicario: What did you work on before this?

Captive #2: I belonged to the metropolitan police. I specifically belonged to the Zacatecas Immediate Response Force (FRIZ).

Sicario: What’s your name?

Captive #3: Francisco Cabrera.

Sicario: Where are you from?

Captive #3: Zacatecas.

Sicario: Who do you work for?

Captive #3: The Mayos.

Sicario: How long have you been working here?

Captive #3: Eight months.

Sicario: Which plazas have you worked in?

Captive #3: Calera de Victor Rosales, Fresnillo, and Valpa (Valparaiso).

Sicario: Who was your commander in Fresnillo?

Captive #3: Jaguar.

Sicario: Give me a description of Jaguar.

Captive #3: He’s from Culiacán, about 5.6, green eyes, and light skinned.

Sicario: Who was your commander in (Calera) Calera de Victor Rosales. Give me a description of him.

Captive #3: Everyone calls him Puma and he belonged to the Cabrera mob.

Sicario: Who was your commander in Valparaiso?

Captive #3: Guicho.

Sicario: Describe him to me.

Captive #3: He has long hair, dark skinned, and short.

Sicario: Give me the names and monikers of your colleagues from Valparaiso.

Captive #3: Cahcoro, Vítoro, Turo, Diecinueve, Tino, and Palmi. Those are the only ones that I know of.

Sicario: Who are the individuals that hand over everyone that’s apprehended in Fresnillo?

Captive #3: That would be the FRIZ.

Sicario: Where does it take place?

Captive #3: It takes place as soon as they leave the police station.

Sicario: Where are the dead disposed of in Valparaiso?

Captive #3: In the hills where a commander for Base Antena is stationed.

Sicario: What types of individuals have you seen in these gravesites?

Captive #3: Men, women and kids.

Sicario: Which government supports you guys in Fresnillo?

Captive #3: The National Guard, ministerial, state police, and municipal authorities.

Sicario: Which government gives you support in Calera?

Captive #3: State, municipal, national guard, and ministerial authorities.

Sicario: How many people have you killed?

Captive #3: About seven individuals.

Sicario: Which businesses do they have in Fresnillo?

Captive #3: La Selva, La Brasil, El Trébol, El Shakira, and another establishment whose name I don’t know.

Sicario: Give me the names of the narco camps that are located in Valparaiso.

Captive #3: Base Antena, Base Tepopo, Base Cuervo, Base Cachorro, Base Cinco, Base Seis, Base Setenta, Base Trescientos, Base Mirador.

Sicario: Who distributes the food and drugs in Valparaiso camps?

Captive #3: That would be Pariente’s brother.

Sicario: Who’s in charge of alcohol sales in Fresnillo?

Captive #3: Chaparro.

Sicario: How much were you making as an enforcer?

Captive #3: 1500.

Sicario: Which firearms did you carry?

Captive #3: An AR-15.

Sicario: What was your role within the Mayos mob?

Captive #3: I was an assassin.

Sicario: Do the FRIZ collaborate with the Mayos?

Captive #4: Besides the FRIZ so does the Metropolitan police, attorney general, and municipal police out of Guadalupe. The authorities out of the state capital are also a part of this. Which is where I’m from.

Sicario: How exactly does the FRIZ collaborate with the Mayos?

Captive #3: We do a bit of everything. One of the things we do is abduct the turncoats and make them fall into formation. Every enemy is also handed over. The same applies to anyone that refuses to pay the extortion fees.

Sicario: So, when you hand over apprehended people where exactly does this take place?

Captive #3: At the Unidad Deportiva de Guadalupe (Guadalupe Sports Complex) grass fields. It all just depends what we’re ordered to do. Two weeks ago our command base called and said that we had to coordinate with the metropolitan police because they had abducted some male and female teenagers. We ended up killing them and disposing of them somewhere near the Jalisco state line. Those were the orders that we were given to do.

Sicario: Give me the details of the persons from the metropolitan police who handed them over.

Captive #3: Let me see if I recall correctly. Those patrol vehicle numbers are 120, 647, 740, 116, and I believe 119. There’s an official there by the name of Yahira Morales. She’s the wife of Allen. Both are active duty police officers from the metropolitan police department. Commander Guacho was also there accompanied by an individual known as Chato. Chato is the person that worked alongside us within the cartel.

Sicario: Where do the Mayos and the people you’ve just mentioned meet up?

Captive #3: It’s near Fresnillo. To be more exact it’s on Sierra’s ranch out there in the town of Niño Artillero.

Sicario: How is it that you know all of this?

Captive #3: I was at a meeting several weeks ago where Mono and Jimmy were present. They had gone there to talk to Commander Sierra so that he could in turn ask Olegario for a big favor.

Sicario: What type of favor was needed, was it an economic one?

Captive #3: No sir. That’s not the case at all. They might work together because of the job. But for the most part they really can’t stand each other. They mentioned that a great portion of their personnel out of Monterrey were in a critical state of affairs. Support was needed in order to remove a problem. According to Yunes there was an obstacle in the way and they wanted to have the director of the state police taken out. They felt that this person was giving them the run around. But the truth is I really don’t know the full context behind this. They mentioned that they could set him up once he took a flight out of Mexico City. The reason being is that it wouldn’t draw law enforcement attention here. So, it’d be best if suspicion fell out there.

Sicario: You mentioned that you’re from Puebla. Why were you working for this police department and how is it that you were contracted in Zacatecas.

Captive #3: The majority of us are from Puebla or Mexico City. Some of the others are from Chiapas and Durango. There aren’t too many Indians out of Zacatecas here within this department.

Sicario: How is it that you entered this police department.

Captive #3: It was through a friend of Yunes sir. He invited me out here when the FRIZ was initially created.

Sicario: And who is this Yunes?

Captive: He’s a chummy brother in law of Oscar Aparicio Avendaño, creator of the FRIZ here in Zacatecas. However, Aparicio is currently in Chiapas as the director of security. In fact, he also established the FRIP out there. Which stands for Pakal Immediate Reaction Force (FRIP).

Sicario: What does Yunes and Avendaño being brother in laws have anything to do with this? What’s the importance there?

Captive #3: The thing is that the bond and friendship that they have are similar in nature. They use it to make transfers of elements from those corporations whenever one of their guys out there screws up and makes the police department look bad, or vice versa. Hopefully you understand what I mean by this.

Sicario: So, what does this have to do with anything? Please explain.

Captive #3: There are various elements from the FRIZ here in Zacatecas that have open investigations against them or current arrest warrants. But since everything has already been taken care of from above. The prosecutor doesn’t act against them. The last thing they want is for the police department to have a bad image.

Sicario: How do you know all of this?

Captive #3: Well, I once belonged to this police department. But after I left the force I aligned myself with the Mayos in order to feel protected. And as you can see things didn’t go as planned for me. Take a look at the situation that I currently find myself in.

Sicario: Give me some details on these individuals that you said have active arrest warrants.

Captive #3: Ok, here it goes. One of the top individuals that has an order of arrest is Boni. I have to reiterate once again that the prosecutor doesn’t act on this matter.

Sicario: Who are the links or direct contacts between the government and the Mayos?

Captive #3: I know for a fact, because I saw it myself that it’s the director of the metropolitan police and El Yunes. They’re the ones that have a direct connection with us. Well, or rather, with our leaders.

Sicario: Who else do you know of?

Captive #3: Another person that I know of is named Antonio Lima, aka Chinillo. He was a bodyguard for the Canadian mine owners here in the state of Zacatecas. He’s the person that setup up those mines to be extorted for us. In addition to this he also coordinated that theft of those góndolas filled with minerals in Cuencamé, Durango.

Sicario: Do you know how much the FRIZ and metropolitan police are being paid?

Captive #3: No, I really don’t know sir. The only ones who were paid directly was the director of the metropolitan police and Yunes. In fact, we’re paid for every event that took place.

Sicario: Explain to me what being paid for every event means.

Captive #3: Well, whenever we raid an enemy’s safe house they buy from us the weapons that we collect. We get a cut from the extortion fees or kidnappings. We’re also allowed to place our very own dope house in every sector.

Sicario: Why are you guys like this with society?

Captive #3: The truth is that it’s not the Indians (dumbasses) fault. Stealing from the residents of Zacatecas is a lot like taking candy from a baby. They’re afraid of us. So, we take advantage of that.

Sicario: What fucking Indians are you talking about you son of a bitch! We’ll see how true that statement is once I’m cutting off your fucking snout!

Captive #3: No, no, no. I’m sorry I said that sir. The thing is that’s how our superiors have society. At the very least that’s how they view them.

Sicario: Well, let’s see now you Mayo FRIZ pig. What the fuck else have you done out here in coordination with the FRIZ?

Captive #3: We were about to get together to fuck over the local agriculturists on account of the fact we’re fed the fuck up with them. The governor was very upset with them because of all the blockades that they did. When president Sheinbaum came to visit the citizens heckled him horribly and made him look bad. That’s the reason why they wanted the FRIZ to pick them up. The plan was to get them to settle the fuck down a bit so that they’d stop doing so much shit against him.

Sicario: How exactly were they wanting to bring order against them?

Captive #3: The plan was to beat one of them down. Because that’s how things are done in Zacatecas.

Sicario: Where are the narco camps in Villanueva?

Captive #3: Bruno’s mob is out there. As far as I know they’re in Capulín de los Salinas and El Aurel. On top of this the state police has a base of operations in the area. And they’re the ones that give them support. They also have another group in La Encarnación. The biggest location is in Laguna de Carretera.

Sicario: Does the military and national guard collaborate with you guys or not?

Captive #3: I honestly don’t know sir. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. What I can tell you is that our safe houses, drug points, and narco camps are never bothered. And if there’s ever a checkpoint that we happen to come across, regardless of which police corporation it is, all we have to say is that we belong to La Mancha. This is enough for them not to mess with us.

Sicario: Explain to me what La Mancha signifies here.

Captive #3: It means that we belong to the Cabrera or Durango mob.

Sicario: Who controls the prisons in Cieneguillas?

Captive #3: Well, its us the Mayos sir. On top of this we pay them off monthly with two hundred thousand pesos. We also leave the small grocery store temporarily to the director Patricia Leiva Nervilla. And to the head of custody we give 150,000 per month so that they let us bring in phones, drugs and alcohol. Which is all sold on the inside. And besides, every time there are inmate transfers, the director of the legal department sends a list to the person in charge that we have inside for who stays and who doesn’t leave. Generally those who end up leaving are adversaries of ours. That’s all sent to the technical committee and they’re the ones who have to do the madriñada.

Sicario: What is the madriñada?

Captive #3: They’re the phone extortions. We give the director a five percent cut and she splits that up with the head of security. But, let me tell you something else. These days a massive leak is being created, because too many people are deserting us and well, right now we need them for the war. I don’t know if you’re aware but there’s a war in Huajicori, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Zacatecas. In fact, all of this is already in talks with the municipal president of Cieneguillas.

Sicario: That’s good to hear you fucking pig. We’re working with the information you gave us. What would you like to say to your Mayo counterparts?

Captive #4: Please don’t abduct anymore innocent people. Otherwise, you’re going to end up like me. Take a look at all of us here and see us as an example of what happens to people like us.

Sicario: What message would you like to send to the Mayos and those faggot Cabrera’s?

Captive #3: I never received support or anything from them. I was sent into war just like that. It’s for the best that the Cabrera’s, Flechas, and Parientes get out of the way. Just leave Zacatecas all together.

Sicario #1: This is how you’re all going to end up.

Sicario #2: Let’s start with the next person that’s going to be killed…